


Envy is in the Eye of the Beholder

by KetchupEnthusiast



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Problems on the Job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27868941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KetchupEnthusiast/pseuds/KetchupEnthusiast
Summary: Sheamus is thriving. Cesaro is stagnating. Complicated emotions ensue.
Relationships: Antonio Cesaro/Sheamus
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Envy is in the Eye of the Beholder

Cesaro hasn't been having a very good time lately.

To start, there were the career woes.

There were only four or five teams on _Smackdown Live_ , yet for some reason, he and Shinsuke couldn't make their way back into the tag title picture. This, mind you, was with one of The Usos injured and The Forgotten Sons firmly placed in the corporate doghouse.

Something about that hit to the very core of the Swiss man's ego. Tag team wrestling was the one area he _always_ excelled in – no ifs, ands, or buts. To be shunted so far down the tag team totem pole felt like a deeply personal insult as far as he was concerned, especially in the current _Smackdown_ landscape _._

On top of that, his fortieth birthday was just around the corner and that had started to weigh heavily on his mind. There were yet-to-be-achieved goals that barely dangled off the precipice, things that he had hoped to accomplish by now – yet he couldn't imagine becoming Universal Champion before the end of December. More hopes dashed.

Then, there was the cherry on top of the shit sundae: the fact that Sheamus had been drafted to _RAW_ , while he remained on _Smackdown_. And that the Irishman had rapidly propelled up the card on the red brand while Cesaro was barely mentioned on Friday nights. That was the thing that weighed on him the most heavily, the one woe he just couldn't push out of his mind.

To make matters worse, he was fairly certain that Sheamus had begun to notice that something was wrong. Cesaro hadn't quite been himself lately - he was withdrawn, irritable, didn't tease the Irishman as much, and he avoided talking about work like the plague... not that there was much to mention anyway.

As for now, The Swiss Cyborg was sitting alone in catering with his face buried in his phone. Natalya approached him with her low-carb lunch, in search of some friendly company.

“What's up, buttercup?” Nattie beamed at him.

“I'm checking the tracking number for my new espresso machine. It's supposed to be delivered today,” the bald man mumbled.

The blonde leaned over to glance at his phone screen. She expected to see a UPS page or maybe a picture of a posh coffee maker, one with all the latest bells and whistles. What she saw was a picture of a very grumpy Sheamus looking back at her, presumably after having his photo taken against his will. Nattie would recognize that ivory skin and flaming red hair anywhere. Hell, anybody would.

“That's a funny looking espresso machine,” Natalya quipped.

Cesaro hummed in agreement, then clicked his phone's screen off and placed it facedown on the table. A long, uncomfortable silence bridged between the two of them.

Nattie finally broke the ice, “so spill, what's going on?” She knew that her friend had something on his mind, he was never this moody without a good reason.

“It's... well, it's Sheamus,” Cesaro sighed.

“I kind of gathered that,” Nattie barely refrained from rolling her eyes, “So what is it? You two are having problems?” Her brow creased a bit with worry. She hadn't gotten bad vibes off of them the last time she saw them together, when they still seemed very much in (argumentative) love.

“No... well, yes... well, no. It's more...” the Swiss man stalled, he was obviously having trouble formulating a clear thought.

“Slow down,” Nattie cautioned, then she repeated her initial question, “Are you two having problems?”

“No, we're not. It's more like I'm having problems with Sheamus,” Cesaro confessed.

“What are you talking about?”

Cesaro sighed again, “I just haven't been handling this separation well, Nattie. Even though we're not on the road right now and we get to go home after every show, it still drives me crazy that we're not on the same roster. I hate that I can't just see him whenever I want to. I hate that he's not always by my side. I didn't realize how much I took that for granted. And if I'm completely honest... I'm envious,” the Swiss man sulked.

“Envious? Of what?” Natalya was intrigued by this. She didn't think that it was possible for The Swiss Superman to feel that way about anyone, let alone the man he loved.

“He was moved to _RAW_ without me, then almost immediately shot up the card. His matches have been fantastic and he's in the best shape he's been in since I've known him and he comes home excited about everything and I'm just...” Cesaro rambled and made angry gestures with his hands, ones that were supposed to convey, _'that's nice, but what about **me**?'_

The blonde reached out to his shoulder and began rubbing soothing circles, “Have you tried talking to him about all of this?”

From the back of the European's mind, he quickly recalled the argument that he and Sheamus had gotten into once the Irishman had been cleared to compete again. Cesaro wanted to get back together as a tag team, Sheamus had argued against it, saying that it might be their last chance for singles runs. The conversation had been explosive, one of the worst arguments they'd ever been in – a lot of yelling, even a few tears.

In the end, Cesaro had reluctantly agreed to going their separate ways as a team. He certainly hadn't been happy about it. That memory clearly influenced his response now.

“What am I supposed to say? 'Gee, Sheamy! I sure am happy that you came back from your career-threatening injury and were drafted to _RAW_! And that you're already rubbing elbows with the WWE Champion! But hey, feel bad for me because I missed _Survivor Series_ , will probably miss _TLC_ , haven't been on television for a month, and my career's stalled yet again'?!” Cesaro ranted, his fist smacked the table top once he was finished.

Natalya winced a bit, she had no idea that it ran this deep. Cesaro's face folded into one of deep hurt.

“I really hate this, Nattie. I'm envious and feeling guilty and I don't know how to talk to him about it.”

They both sat silent again, though this time it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable, since the air had begun to clear. Cesaro was having a rare moment to wallow in self-pity and Natalya was trying to conjure up some sage advice. The problem was that she was coming up empty-handed. So, she decided to throw out the most obvious thing that she could think of.

“Just tell him. Tell him how you feel, all of it – no matter how petty or nasty or stupid. He's your _partner_. I know that Sheamus would bend over backwards to make you feel better, Tony, and you know it, too,” Natalya proselytized, there was nothing else that she could offer – dealing with an insecure Cesaro was new territory for her.

“I know, I know. You're right, like always,” Cesaro needed surprisingly little convincing. He gripped Natalya in a side-hug, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Okay. Okay! I'm going to talk to him about this,” he let her loose from his grip and then looked her in the eyes sincerely, “Thank you, Nattie, you've made me feel so much better. I just needed to spill my guts to somebody, I guess,” he rose up from the table to get changed into his ring gear.

“You can talk to me anytime. Good luck,” the blonde beamed once more, watching him walk off before cutting into her (now cold) chicken breast.

* * *

_Smackdown_ went by and once again, Cesaro and Shinsuke weren't featured. Did it get them down? Absolutely. But after the show, Cesaro had other things on his mind – he needed to get this heart-to-heart with Sheamus over and done with _pronto_.

He entered the house around midnight, settled his suitcase near the front door, and called out, “Sheamy?”

“In the kitchen, love!” Cesaro heard that heavy accent beckoning from a few rooms away and moved toward it quickly. Nattie was right, it was time to get these thoughts off of his mind, for better or worse.

The Swiss man stepped into the kitchen to see Sheamus sitting at the island with a tumbler of whiskey in front of him. A big brown box also sat there. Before Cesaro could say anything, Sheamus cut in,

“This arrived today. I'm guessing it's your new espresso maker,” the Irishman tapped the box, then took a sip of his whiskey.

Cesaro ignored the large parcel that was sitting on the counter-top, as difficult as that was (he'd paid a pretty penny for that espresso machine!). Instead, he took the tumbler, set it aside, then grabbed Sheamus' face and kissed the redhead _hard_. They broke apart only when it was time to catch their breath.

“I need to talk to you,” the bald man practically panted, his fingers stroking through that fiery beard. It took all of Cesaro's self-restraint not to kiss him again.

Sheamus downed the rest of his whiskey in one gulp then smirked knowingly, "Well, it's about feckin' time.”


End file.
